BMW M has no time for standalone sports car

One of BMW’s top executives has shed insight into why the brand’s M division isn’t developing a standalone model.

“We have no plan at the moment for a standalone M car like Audi or AMG. M is simply too busy. If you look at M and the work it has done, a lot of the development has been with M Performance,” explained Dr. Ian Robertson, BMW’s director of sales and marketing, in an interview with Australian website Motoring.

The M Performance parts that Robertson referred to are available for virtually every member of the BMW lineup. Inspired by the world of racing, M Performance components include special wheels, body kits, carbon fiber bits and pieces, and bucket seats.

Interestingly, Robertson hinted the reports claiming a successor to the M1 was on the drawing board weren’t completely false. He didn’t reveal how close it came to production, but he explained that it wouldn’t make sense from a marketing standpoint to sell two range-topping sports coupes. In other words, the M1 was shelved indefinitely when BMW decided to move forward with the i8 project.

“I was clear with my mind that if we were bringing in an i8, we should not have another one based on it or competing with it from M,” affirmed Robertson.